Parlando: The COC Blog

6/18/2012

Summer Youth Intensive: SYI Video Contest

The COC is excited to announce the SYI Video Contest!

If you are 13 to 18 years of age, you have the chance to win a scholarship to attend the second week of Summer Youth Intensive (SYI) plus BMO Financial Group Student Dress Rehearsal tickets for the entire 2012/2013 season!

The contest begins today, June 19, 2012 and ends on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Get your video up early so that you have more time to share it with friends!

SYI is a two-week program that gives youth between the ages of 13 and 18 the unique opportunity to learn about the various aspects in opera from professional artists. Week one focuses on skills and techniques, allowing participants to develop as emerging artists. In the second week of the program, participants get an intimate look at creating and producing an opera by exploring libretto writing (writing the text of an opera), musical composition, and design. Participants will create an opera from the ground up and present it to family and friends at the end of the week.

More information regarding the Summer Youth Intensive is available here. Registration is available for both weeks for $350, or register for only Week One or Week Two for $200.

After School Opera: The Bucket Brigade

The after school opera kids have been hard at work on their newest opera: The Bucket Brigade. After last term’s vaudevillian production, Clownin’ Around, the kids have taken a historically dramatic turn (pun intended) and created an opera about the War of 1812.

The setting is a turn-of-the-century school house. The place catches fire and the kids have to work together to extinguish the flame and save their teacher and a few wounded soldiers.

While the story is completely fictional, it does derive some of its plot points from historical events that happened during the attack on York (Toronto's name until 1834) in 1813, specifically the explosion of the York munitions magazine. The British blew up the magazine so that the Americans couldn’t capture it and cause even greater damage to the town. The Americans did however cause a great deal of damage, including looting the city and burning the parliament buildings.

In commemoration of the bicentennial of the war, the Ontario Heritage Trust has created an interpretive centre (full of interesting information and artifacts) on the site where the original parliament buildings once stood, on Front Street between Berkeley and Parliament. They were also kind enough to lend the kids a hand with their opera. They sent out an interpreter to each community centre to talk to the kids about the war – what it was like in York back then and about some of the heroes that fought on our side, both British and First Nations.

I walked over to the centre this morning to take a look at the beautiful red coat reproductions the Ontario Heritage Trust and our friends at Fort York have lent us for the performances.

I also spotted a few other neat things.

Remains of copper hoops from barrels of gunpowder stored at the York munitions magazine.

Tecumseth was a pretty cool guy. His confederacy allied with the British and helped with the capture of Fort Detroit. You can read more about him and General Brock at the Interpretive Centre.

March Break Opera Camps

[This is a guest post by our Public Relations Intern, Alexandra Hong]

Led by professional artist educators and using a current COC production as a source of inspiration, the COC’s March Break Opera Camps give children the opportunity to explore the various artistic components involved in producing an opera.

This year, on March 15 and 16, young people aged seven to 12 discovered Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (on the COC mainstage as a double bill with Zemlinsky’sA Florentine Tragedy from April 26 – May 25, 2012), by learning about the story and its themes. Led by Bronwen Low (music), Andy Miller (design), and Jen Johnson (drama and movement) the children experienced how these various elements are used in the production of an opera. At the end of the day, the children demonstrated their knowledge from the workshops in a performance featuring two excerpts from Gianni Schicchi: “Povero Buoso” and “O mio babbino caro.”

Interested in the COC Opera Camps for kids? The COC’s Summer Opera Camps are now open for registration for children aged five to 12!